Cleaning Crew, how many?

ghost · 01-05-2007, 04:47 AM

General question... What is the right amount of cleaning crew do I need for a 45 gallon, wet/dry reef tank with corals? I would a few hermits and a cleaner but they keep dying on me after a few months.

Also, what is a good combination?

Birchell · 01-05-2007, 10:22 PM

your best bet will be to so a search on the forums. This is brought up all the time, so there is alot of info on here you just have to find it. Oh the dieing thing though. It sounds like you have a nitrate problem, or are just starving the little guys. Unless your tank is mature, I would suggest putting only a few hermits/snails at a time till you get the results you want. I would test your water, and also see what the copper levels are. Inverts are really sinsitive to copper, and nitates.

Dyngoe · 01-05-2007, 10:51 PM

Hi Ghost,

There is no standard "rule" about cleaners. I have ~10 nasarius snails in my sand, ~10 margarite snals on my glass, ~6 more turbos, ~6 red hermits and 2 blue hermits, ~4 emerald crabs, a cleaner shrimp, a coral banded shrimp and a pepermint shrimp. Now, I give approximate numbers becasue I know a few have died. That's the problem with cleaners. they start small and some grow while some die. This will be something you work on for the life of your tank. Start with a few nasarius and margarite snail once your tank is basically cycled and stable. You can then add a few hermits and nasarius. After this just monitor your algae and adjust accordingly. You really can't have too many, but it's better to add slowly so you have a general count. As they die you will probably want to remove the old shells. Not that they are a problem, they are just garbage.

coral reefer · 01-07-2007, 08:12 PM

Have to dose iodine for their molt/allowing them to grow. They don't handle trasition well either. Changes in pH and salinity are the two main ones that will kill your shrimp! When acclimating shrimp, Sea stars and Clams, it MUST be done slowly and gradually. Problems with water evaporation in your tank and topping off with fresh water could kill them if you don't do it properly!